Okay, so this is my first One-Shot and I am curious to see how this works out. So this was inspired by the Hunger Games Facebook page when they asked the question, "Who would you volunteer for in the Hunger Games?" It got me thinking about the answer and this story came into my mind. Most of the characters are based off of people in my life. Of course all names have been changed. This story is about me and my friends and what would happen if we were in this situation and how I would do anything for them. So PLEASE review and tell me what you think of my first one shot and ENJOY!
I woke up with the morning sun glaring in my eyes. It was shining through the window next to my mattress. The shade had long been torn and had holes all through it, allowing sun to pour through.
I sat up and put my hand over my eyes, trying to protect them from the sun. I looked over to the rest of the room. My younger brother and sister were in the mattress closest to me and my mother and father were in the one at the opposite side of the room. I was the only one who had my own mattress, though my younger brother often would climb into my bed if he had a nightmare. He had been having bad dreams quite often the last few days, of course he would, today was the reaping.
My brother Ryder wasn't old enough to be chosen, he was only ten, but he feared for me and my sister. I was fifteen and she was thirteen. My sister Aurelia was scared but she tried not to show it, she always tried to be strong.
It hurt me that they had to suffer because of this, they were so young. I felt like I should be able to protect them from all of this, but I couldn't.
I quietly climbed out of my bed, trying my hardest not to wake anyone. I quietly slipped across the room and went to the small drawer where our clothes were. I pulled out black pants and a green short sleeved shirt. I took off my night clothes and slipped the clothes on.
I walked over to the kitchen and pulled out the large containers of berries that I picked in a bush that I had found the day before. I emptied about half of it and wrapped it in a dark cloth. I tied the cloth with a piece of string and carried in my hand.
I ran over to the door and put on the black jacket that was hanging next to it. I felt for the knife that was always kept in the pocket to make sure I wasn't leaving it at home. I knew that I wasn't supposed to have it; I would probably be punished by a Peacekeeper if I was caught with it, but I wasn't taking any chances of not having it, just in case.
I put the bag of berries in the other pocket and silently slipped out the door, shivering slightly at the cool morning air. I started jogging through the dirt roads of District 8, on my way to where I was supposed to be meeting my friends as I did every morning.
I ducked through the branches as the number of trees grew thicker as I neared the outskirts of the District. I saw the old abandoned building and the supposedly electric fence that was only a few hundred yards behind it. (My friends and I had tested it once out of curiosity, finding out that it had no more electric charge than a brick. Nonetheless, we decided not to take our chances by trying to go to the woods that lay on the other side out of fear of the major consequences that would be issued if we were to be caught.)
I walked closer to the crumbling building and walked behind it where my friends were already sitting, waiting for me. They smiled and called out when they saw me approaching.
"Wow, thanks for showing up Bryn!" Jay called as he waved to me. He was tall with blond hair and blue eyes. He was sixteen and always loved to tease me. Next to him was Quill. He was the same height as Jay but had dark hair and eyes.
"What took you so long?" asked Rosaline as she ran over and hugged me. Rosaline was fifteen and the same height as me. We both shared the same dark eyes but our hair couldn't be much more different, hers was a dark brown that was almost black and mine was a bright red. Both of our hair was the same length though, standard for the girls of District 8. Rosaline had been my best friend for years and I couldn't imagine my life without her. I smiled at all of them.
"Sorry guys, I slept a little late. Ryder was up late again." I said with a bit of sadness in my voice.
"Poor kid couldn't sleep, huh?" asked Megera apologetically. Megera was also fifteen but she was much shorter than the rest of us. She had light brown eyes and hair.
"Well, who could blame him?" Quill said angrily, his dark eyes flaring with rage. "I could hardly sleep myself." He said a bit quieter.
"Speaking of that," I said. "Happy Hunger Games." I said drearily.
"Ah the Hunger Games." Rosaline said. "Frightening young, innocent children for sixty three years." She said, the false cheeriness in her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Come on guys," Megera said. "Let's try not to think about it right now. Come on, let's eat." She said.
We all sat down on long, overgrown grass that nobody bothered to cut after the building had gone out of operation. I took out the berries that I had in my pocket while Quill took out a half loaf of bread, Megera took out some cheese, Jay took out some butter and Rosaline took out a small jar of milk. A few days a week we pulled whatever we could from our houses and all ate together. Most days we didn't have anything to spare, Rosaline and Quill both had younger siblings like me who we had to keep fed. We made sure that our little siblings always took precedence over us; we would always give our food to them before we would eat. Megera was the youngest in her family and Jay was an only child. But about three days a week we were all able to bring something.
We started passing around the food, all taking little bits of each. I took out my knife to spread the butter onto the bread and let the others do the same. It wasn't exactly what my knife was for, but I hadn't had any other use for it in a long time.
We all ate in silence. Most days we would all be talking and laughing as we ate but we were all to busy thinking about the event that was just a few hours away. Who would it take this year? A stranger that meant nothing to us? A cousin? A sibling? One of us? It hurt to think about the possibilities.
"Come on guys, let's not just sit here sulking." said Megera. She was always the one who tried to lighten the mood, not liking us to be to serious. "Let's just pretend that today is just any other day, no big deal. Let's just try to enjoy…" she didn't finish her sentence, she didn't have to. Try to enjoy what could be our last meal all together, the last happy memory that we may have of one of us. That's was she was going to say.
"But you know what?" Quill said angrily. "It isn't. It isn't just any other day. Today is the day that some kids in our District are going to get chosen to die. Some innocent kids that had nothing to do with the revolution that started this whole mess yet are the ones who have to pay for it." His voice was rising as he grew angrier. "And do you know what else? It could be someone that we know. It could be one of our siblings. One of our little siblings that have no way to defend themselves and have no chance of surviving. Or, who knows? It could be one of us! One of us could be chosen and we would never see them again!" Now he was practically screaming. Jay put a hand on his shoulder.
"We know, Quill, we know." He said calmly. "Just calm down, she was only trying to help." Quill's face began to soften. A tear ran down his face.
"I know, I know. It just can't be Macy, it just can't be." He said quieter. Macy was his younger sister. This was her first year and she had had to take some tesseras to help feed his family when his father died a few months ago. We knew that Quill had done everything he could to prevent her from having to put her name in extra times, even taking a bunch of tesseras himself, but his family had needed the extra food so badly that they had no choice.
"It's going to be okay." I said quietly. "It isn't going to be any of us or our families. This is a big District, its probably going to be people we don't even know like the last few years." I said trying to comfort everyone. I wanted so bad to believe my own words, but of course I had an awful fear that it could be my sister or one of my friends. I didn't know how I would live without any of them.
"You're probably right." Quill said.
"It's getting late." Rosaline said. She was right, we could already see the first couple of people starting to walk through the streets and the sun was already getting hot.
"We should all start getting ready." Jay said as he started to stand up. The rest of us did the same.
"Well," Megera said with a small smile on her face. "May the odds be ever in your favor." she said, mimicking the Capitol representative for our district, Bonnie Yellowsmith, with her Capitol accent and high pitched voice. We all smiled and laughed, immediately feeling a bit better.
"Meet here later?" Quill asked. We met back behind the building every year after the reaping to celebrate the safety of ourselves and our families. We had the whole day off because of this event and we always took advantage of every minute of it. We all agreed before turning our separate ways towards our homes. After a second of thought, I stopped and turned around.
I ran over to Rosaline and grabbed her shoulder. She turned around and I looked into her worried eyes.
"You okay? I asked. "You were pretty quiet today." I said.
"Just nervous I guess. You know." She said. I knew that she was nervous for her family and herself. She had five siblings. Three of them, including her, were old enough to get chosen and they had all had to put their names in extra times to help support the large family.
"Don't worry. Everything is going to be okay, I promise." I said with a small smile. "Have I ever been wrong?" I asked teasingly. She smiled back.
"Yes, but I will take your word this time." She said with a small laugh. We both giggled for a moment. I hugged her and kissed her on her cheek.
"I will see you later." I said. She nodded and turned away towards her house. I did the same and started on my way home.
xxXxx
When I walked into my house it already smelled like soap and flowers. Everyone was up and trying to get ready. My mother was helping Aurelia get clean. She was using the soap that I had traded for a few days ago.
"Good, you're home." My frazzled mother said. She obviously nervous but she was trying very hard not to show it, for our sake no doubt. She was frantically trying to help Aurelia get ready and I was sure my being a bit late wasn't helping.
She handed me a piece of clothing. "Here, go wash up and then put that on. Then come see me so I can make sure you look alright." I nodded and gave her a small smile.
"Okay mother." I said as I kissed her on the cheek and walked away.
I went into the washroom and took off my clothes. There was a tub of water already waiting for me. I stepped in. It wasn't freezing, my mother had probably warmed it up for me, but I had been later than she thought so it had begun to get cold.
I soaked every inch of my body, trying to just forget everything for a moment. Of course it didn't work, but it did help me relax a bit. I took out the new soap and I started to clean myself.
After I had stepped out of the tub and dried off, I took out the dress that my mother had handed me and slipped it on. It was a soft purple and went just below my knees. I didn't recognize the fabric so my parents must have bought it for me without me knowing. I was a bit surprised, new clothes was something that barely ever came into our house. Anything that we had that we could trade was always used for food and other things that we needed. The dress was beautiful and the soft fabric felt nice against my skin.
I pulled a brush through my red hair, trying to get it as straight as possible. When I was finally ready I stepped out of the washroom and went to go help Aurelia get ready.
When I walked over to her she was looking out the window. My mother and father were getting themselves ready and she was alone. I put my hand on her shoulder and she looked up at me. A tear was running down her face. I felt like crying with her but I knew that I had to be strong for her. I crouched down beside her and wiped the tear from her face.
"Don't worry." I said softly. "Everything is going to by fine, I promise." She looked up and me and nodded. I almost never saw her cry; she always tried to appear strong for Ryder. I gave her a small smile.
"Do you want me to do your hair?" I asked gently. She was already dressed in a yellow dress but her hair was still a tangled mess on her head. She nodded to me. I pulled out the brush and began to try and get all of the knots out of her blonde hair. When it was all smooth I remembered something that I had found a few days ago.
"Wait here for a second." I said to her as I walked over to the clothes drawer and began to dig to the bottom. After a second, I found what I was looking for. I walked back over to her and tied the yellow ribbon in her hair.
"There you go." I said as I turned her around. "Beautiful." I said. She reached out and hugged me.
"Thank you Bryn." She said quietly, her voice muffled by my hair. I pulled her back and smiled at her. We sat there in silence when I heard my parents step into the room. Me and Aurelia stood up next to each other and let them inspect us.
She looked over us quickly, making sure that we looked good enough for the Capitol. I scoffed at the idea of needing the Capitol's approval.
"You both look lovely." she said quietly. I could hear that she was fighting back tears.
"Good luck girls." My father said as he put his arm around my mother.
"You must go now. Stay together until you need to go to your separate sections." She instructed as she turned us out the door.
Before the door closed I felt a tug on the back of my dress. I turned around and saw Ryder standing there with tear filled eyes. I knelt down and hugged him.
"Don't let her get picked." He said quietly. "She will be too young to win." I nodded and smiled. "But you don't get picked neither." He instructed. I ruffled his hair and smiled.
"Of course not." I assured him. "Don't worry, in a few hours we will all be back at home." He nodded as I stood up and walked away.
I took my sister's hand and we walked down the road towards the District center.
As we walked I watched all of the other children emerging from their houses. Some were older and had a determined look on their face. Some of them were young children, clinging to their older siblings as they walked down the road.
I saw Rosaline come out of her house. She was wearing a white dress and her hair was in two tight braids going down her back. Her youngest siblings, both of them only five, stood by the door as she walked out, crying and calling for her to come back. She had her other siblings on either side of her. Her brother Jet was fourteen and her sister Leela was thirteen, the same as Aurelia. Her hand was on Jet's back as they walked down the road. I called out her name and she turned around. She smiled at me and stopped so that I could catch up.
Me and Aurelia ran up to them. Aurelia started talking to Leela. They had become friends a few years ago and had gotten closer as they got older. I was glad that Aurelia had a friend that she could talk with.
"Hello Jet." I said to Rosaline's brother, who was walking alone. I could easily see that he was upset but he wanted to look strong. 'Typical teenage boy' I thought with a laugh.
"Hello." he said quietly. Rosaline put her hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. I didn't know how she could do it; I had a hard time just being able to comfort Aurelia and Ryder. She had Leela and Jet plus her other two siblings. I knew that Rosaline had to be the brave one for all of them.
After a few minutes of walking, we finally got to the point where we had to split up into our separate age groups. I took Aurelia's hand and looked in her eyes.
"You stay with Leela and Jet until it is all over. I will meet you right back here. Okay?" she nodded. I hugged her.
"Don't be nervous." I said through her hair. "You are going to be fine, I promise." I assured her as I pulled her back. She nodded and went over and took Leela's hand as the three of them walked over to their age group.
I looked over to Rosaline who was still watching Leela and Jet with a worried look. I put my hand on her shoulder.
"Come on, we have to go now. They will be okay." I said.
"I know they will be." she said, trying to make herself believe it. We turned and walked down another path towards our age group.
We stood in line, waiting to get our fingers pricked so they could identify our blood to make sure that we were all there. It seemed a bit dramatic to me, why couldn't they just ask us our names?
When I got to the front of the line I gave the woman my hand and she zapped it with a small devise, causing a drop of blood to fall onto the paper in front of her. She scanned it with another devise.
"Bryn Riverside. You are all set." She said with her Capitol accent as I was pushed along and she began on the next person in line. There were so many people I could hardly see Rosaline who was standing in front of me. I scanned the area looking for the others.
I saw Jay and Quill standing with the boys it their age group. Quill was looking desperately through the crowd, no doubt looking for Macy. Jay saw me looking at them and gave me a weak smile. I gave him a small wave.
A few rows over I could see Megera. I could barely see the top of her head; she was so short that the other people in our age group towered over her.
I was being pushed and shoved a bit from the other people trying to get into the lines. Rosaline was separated from my side but I could still see her a few people away from me.
After everyone had filed in there were a few minutes of just quiet, nervous chatter. Then there was the sound of microphone feedback and then Bonnie Yellowsmith clearing her throat, trying to get everyone's attention. Everyone went silent.
"Welcome people of District 8!" she said cheerfully in her high pitched Capitol accent.
"The time has come to choose one brave male and female to play in the sixty third annual Hunger Games!" she said cheerfully. "Let's begin!" she said as she walked over to one of the giant reaping balls that were filled with the names of every single child between twelve and eighteen in the district.
"Let's start with the girls." She said as she put her hand into the giant glass ball. I closed my eyes and held my breath as she took out the slip of paper. She unfolded it.
I heard her read the name and time stood still. All of the noise around me disappeared. Even the soft whistle of wind and the delicate chirping of birds seemed to die. I watched as the two Peacekeepers went over to her and lead her to the stage. My face became hot. I wanted to run up to them and push them away but whole body felt as if it had turned to stone.
They lead her up the stage. She nervously climbed the stairs up to Bonnie Yellowsmith, who took her by the arm and lead her to the center of the stage where the microphone was.
"Well my dear." Bonnie said excitedly. "How lucky you are! Now, what is your name?" she asked as she pushed the microphone up to her face. The girl's face went pale as she opened her mouth to speak.
A piece of dark hair came loose from one of her braids and flew into her face. "Rosaline Copper" she said quietly.
"Congratulations Rosaline." Bonnie said happily. "Now before we continue, are there any volunteers to take the place of Miss. Copper?" she asked. Silence fell over the District.
My face grew hotter. I couldn't loose her, not my best friend. I wouldn't let the Capitol take her from me. My hand shot up and I pushed my way through the crowd and up to the front of the stage.
"Me!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I was afraid that they wouldn't hear me and then they would take her away.
"Me! I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute! Please, please take me." I said the last part quieter as I was at the foot of the stage. Rosaline's eyes grew wide. She mouthed the word 'no' to me.
"Well!" Bonnie said excitedly. "Miss. Rosaline you appear to have a volunteer. You will not have to compete this year." As she said that the two Peacekeepers came onto the stage and escorted her down. I stepped up the steps slowly. Bonnie came over and led me over to the microphone where Rosaline had just been standing.
"Well, that certainly was exciting!" Bonnie said. I could barely hear her, my focus was on the hundreds of children standing in front of me, their eyes wide. There hadn't been a volunteer in our District for almost twenty years. The closest face to me was Rosaline's. They hadn't led her back to her original spot because it would disturb the other spectators. She was standing in the front row. Tears were flowing down her face and she just kept shaking her head.
"Now, what is the name of our brave volunteer?" Bonnie asked, shoving the microphone in my face. I took a breath of air.
"Bryn." I said quietly. "My name is Bryn Riverside." I said a bit louder. Bonnie smiled ridiculously towards the crowd.
"Well, Miss. Bryn you sure were excited!" she exclaimed. "Now, would you tell us what possessed you to volunteer? Wanted a chance at eternal fame and glory, did you?" she asked me. I shook my head slightly.
"No." I said with an almost disgusted tone. "No, she is my best friend. I couldn't let her go." I informed her. Her rehearsed face dropped a little, not knowing how to respond. It gave me a little satisfaction knowing that I had made Bonnie Yellowsmith speechless, something that nobody every thought could be possible.
She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well then, let us continue with the boys." She said as she left my side and walked over to the boy's reaping ball. I didn't pay much attention as she called out the boy tribute's name, my focus was on Rosaline. She looked up at me with her tear filled eyes.
'I'm so sorry." I mouthed silently to her. I knew that she was furious at me. I didn't pay attention at all to the boy tribute as he walked on stage.
After introducing the boy, Bonnie asked for any volunteer's. The district went silent, no one stepping up to protect him.
"Now our two tributes will shake hands." She said into the microphone. The boy stood in front of me and held his hand out. As I took his hand and shook it I looked at him. He was tall and seemed a bit older than me. He had dark hair and blue eyes that were filled with worry. Even though I didn't know him, I was sorry that I was going to be trying to kill him in just two weeks.
I didn't hear anything as Bonnie said the conclusion to the district and wished everyone a 'Happy Hunger Games!' dismissing the massive crowd. Two Peacekeepers came over to me and took me by the arms, leading me off of the stage and into the District Building where I would say my final goodbyes to everyone.
I was led into a private room and was told to wait for the first people to come. I paced in the room silently for a few minutes before the giant doors opened. Aurelia, Ryder, my mother and my father walked in. Ryder ran up to me, jumping into my arms. He began to sob into my dress. I pat his head, trying to calm him down.
"Shh," I soothed. "Listen to me, everything is okay. It's okay." I said quietly. He pulled back and looked at my face.
"But-but, you are leaving!" he blubbered out. My father came over and picked him up, allowing Aurelia to come over and hug me. She did not cry, though I could see that she was doing her best to fight back tears.
"Don't worry, everything is going to be okay." I said to her, my voice shaking. I knew that I was just saying what they wanted to hear, I didn't believe my own words at all.
"But what if you don't win?" she asked timidly. It was a thought that scared me too. If I didn't win, who would take care of my family? Of course I had my mother and father but they were both always too busy or just absent minded to always do what Aurelia and Ryder needed them to. I had always taken care of them and now who would?
"I-I am going to try my hardest, I promise. But, if something does happen," I said, trying to pick my words carefully. "I will make sure that someone is always looking after you guys, don't worry." I said and I leaned down to hug her again.
She backed away as my mother and father came over and said goodbye to me. They seemed too shocked to show emotion, both just hugging me and wishing me good luck. It was not out of the ordinary for them, they were never good with anything difficult. They would always just shy away from anything new and scary, that is why I had always taken care of my siblings when they just couldn't.
The Peacekeepers came and opened the large doors, telling my family that it was time to leave. They all turned away and left the room. It was silent for a few moments before the doors opened again.
Quill, Jay and Megera walked in the room. Megera ran over and hugged me. She instantly began crying. I laughed a little at how innocent and child like she was.
"It's okay." I murmured. "I'm okay." She pulled back and looked at me.
"I know, I know." She said quietly and stepped aside for Quill and Jay to come over. They both embraced me warmly.
"You are crazy." Quill stated quietly, giving me a tiny smile. I nodded slowly, taking a deep breath.
"Yup, I know." I said. I looked at them seriously.
"Please, I need you to help watch Aurelia and Ryder." I said pleadingly. "Check in on
them and make sure that they are okay. I don't know how my parents are going to start acting now that I am gone. If they just keep going the way they always have, Aurelia and Ryder are going to starve to death." I said quietly. They all knew that it was true.
They all knew how hard I had to work to find enough things to trade to keep them both fed and healthy. My parents got some money from working, but they never did anything with it, I was always the one to go buy the things that we needed.
"I promise." Jay said. "We will all look after them. Nothing is going to happen to them." He stated. I believed him. I knew that they would all help take care of my siblings until they were old enough to learn to take care of themselves.
Suddenly the Peacekeeper opens the giant wooden doors. "Time's up." He said as he came in to escort them out of the room. They looked back at me before the doors closed. By the look in their eyes, I knew that I could trust them with my family.
It seemed like many minutes before the door opened again. I was beginning to wonder if I even had any more visitors. But I knew that there was one more person that would no doubt walk through the doors. And suddenly she did, the Peacekeeper trailing behind her and closing the giant doors once she had entered.
She ran from the doors and into my arms. I embraced her silently as sobs rang out through the room. She broke the embrace and looked into my eyes.
"Why?" she yelled, tears still streaming rapidly down her face. "Why would you do that? Are you an idiot?" she continued to yell. I knew that she would be angry but I also knew that she was more scared than anything else. She was scared for the same reason that I volunteered for her, she knew that there was no chance of me coming back.
"Bryn..." she said quietly as her sobs began to slow. I tried giving her a small smile to reassure her that I had no regrets about it.
"I had to." I told her simply. "I couldn't let you go. Not a chance." She looked at me angrily.
"And why not?" she yelled again. "Why wouldn't you let me go? You still have your family to look after. You still have things that you are leaving behind." She said, knowing that I would use the excuse of her family as a reason why I couldn't let her go. It was partially true, I knew that her large family needed her and it would be harder for the others to look after all of them than my two siblings.
"You know why." I said. "It's because you are my best friend and I love you and I couldn't have just stood there as they took you off to your death. This is easier for me." I told her. She just stood there and looked at me for a moment, deciding what to say. At last, she must have decided that there was no way that she could change what had been done and there was no argument she could make that could make me regret my decision.
"Thank you." She said in almost a whisper. Her head fell onto my shoulder as she began to sob again. I stroked her hair. She then pulled her head up and looked at me seriously.
"Bryn" she said in a grave tone. "I know that you don't think that you can, but you do have a chance of winning." I was about to open my mouth to disagree when she cut me off. "You are smart. You know about edible plants. You know how to handle weapons. You know how to survive. Remember everything that you know. If you can use everything that you possibly know in the arena, you have just a big of a chance of winning as anybody else in there, do you understand me?" she asked. I nodded. She took my head in her hands. She pressed her forehead into mine.
"You. Can. Survive." She said as she looked into my eyes. I gave a small nod to tell her that I understood. Just then, the large wooden doors burst open and the Peacekeeper came in to escort Rosaline out. When she didn't move from my side he came in the room and took her by the arm and began to lead her out of the room.
"Remember everything Bryn!" she shouted as she was being dragged. "You can do this!" It was the last thing I heard before the door slammed shut.
I knew there wasn't going to be any more visitors. I had no more family and no more close friends.
As I sat in the room by myself I began to think of everything that had happened in just the past hour. Rosaline had been picked for the Hunger Games. I had volunteered for her. I had said goodbye to every person on the planet that I loved. I had secured care for my siblings and I had been given advice on how to survive by the person that I probably saved.
As I thought of all of this I realized that there was one thing that I knew for sure: I was going to do anything I could to be the victor.